Parvini
The Parvini are a newly formed Navigatorial family, formed as Sergio Parvi formally split his father's branch from that of his uncles' a decade ago. The split was a very natural and mutually beneficial one: the Parvi fortunes have become increasingly tied to Harid as of late, and Sergio's younger cousins were born into the Haridrim royalty. The arrangement thus allowed the brothers Arslan and Hakim to formally become the family's leaders, and gave Sergio the starting capital to strike out on his own. Sergio used a large part of his early inheritance to build what is still considered to be the star of Neu Ungren ship-yards, and the first ship to be built from scratch in those city's shipyards famously destroyed by the Faceless Men five years before. Built to Sergio's own specifications, Fiamme dell'Alba ''is the most beautiful, most maneuvrable, and the fastest ship in Neu Ungren navy to this day. The Parvini sail a great number of short routers per year, between Neu Ungren and a number of the islands Sergio owns. Orso lacks firm business relationships in either Neu Ungren or Bardia, so their trade is more opportunistic than anything -- although having one of the fastest routers to Bardia helps a lot. The family's biggest moneymaker are their "rum ships", delivering rum and molasses grown on the island plantations the Parvini own. Orso Parvini (age 60) Orso was born Orso Parvi, the eldest of the famous Parvi brothers, one of the most prominent Navigatorial families in Neu Ungren. The acting head of the family for most of his adult life, the competent and diligent Orso nonetheless was never comfortable in the role of a leader: in all important decisions he was always more likely to follow his brothers' initiative, and to resign himself to a supportive role. As his brothers forged strong alliances, first with the royalty of Harid, and then with the illustrious Espiers and the Parvi name has shot to fame and ever-increasing fortunes, Orso has found himself less and less capable of dealing with his family's newfound prestige. This insecurity manifested itself in the boorish, sometimes ruthless and implacable nature with which he dealt with his children. One of the most memorable examples of this was the disowning of his own troubled daughter Daniela once she was accused of piracy. Following his split from his brothers, he has become a much more pleasant gentleman. With many of the pressures of being the head of the house removed from his shoulders, he now enjoys retirement in the company of his beloved wife Angelica, and runs the day-to-day Neu Ungren-based business operations for his son Sergio. Raymond Parvi (died 14 years ago, aged 22) The oldest son of Orso, Raymond took after his father in many ways, as he preferred the role of a follower of whomever he considered to be his betters. It was this unfortunate trait, rather than any genuine interest in the occult that brought him into the company of young navigators of the College who experimented with demonology: a secret society founded and lead by Raymond's best friend and brother in law, the charismatic Philip Espiere. Both Raymond and Phillip died under circumstances that are mysterious to this day. Several other youths involved in the same society, amongst them Ambel Chervez-Tervelie, died also within the span of a couple of years, also under mysterious circumstances. Sergio Parvini (age 33) A spitting image of his older brother, and his closest confidante, Sergio was nonetheless made of an entirely different cloth. Intelligent beyond his years, bold and original, compassionate and insightful, the young man was never content to be in anyone's shadow. Ironically, while having all the qualities that make a good leader, Sergio also lacked the sort of personal magnetism that would draw people to his side. So much so, that even his own brother and his close childhood friend Ambel ended up preferring the company of Phillip Espier, a charismatic yet also depraved and deeply egoitistical individual, with dangerous intentions that in time cost both the young men their lives, along with a few others. Raymond's death changed Sergio. Once personable and adventurous, with a thirst for live and fresh experiences, overnight he turned into a brooding, humourless and solitary individual. In his grief, Sergio has cast a wide rift around him; blaming the Espiers for Raymond's death, frustrated with his family's conciliatory attitude towards their in-laws and isolated from those friends of his at the College that were able to move on easily with their lives. He moved out of the family's new house on Big Fez and into the small cottage in one of the most unkempt parts of the West Bank, where the Parvi family started out a couple of generations back. He never moved back home, preferring the company of gloom, solitude and high principles After a brief involvement with a group of young navigators who were inspired by Patriarch Maltino to eradicate the Slavers (starting unwisely with the only mercernaries poised to protect the city from being sunk into the swamp), his passions were abruptly redirected elsewhere. Specifically, he had caught the romantic attentions of a longtime desperate crush of his: Steffana Vanier-Dorna, who was at the time enduring an unhappy and deeply abusive marriage to Markus Contarini. (The Contarini family being one of the most entrenched slavertraders in the city.) Their brief romance was quickly discovered by Markus, who responded by redoubling his efforts to control his wife's every move. Almost immediately after the fact, Sergio disappeared from the city under mysterious circumstances. The city at the time faced tumultuous times, and amidst the riots and the discommunication of Ferenz Gergely by the patriarch, not many people took notice. The Parvi family, while worried, tried to underplay the disappearance of their male heir, lest he was indeed involved in any subversive activities. The only one who insisted on actively searching for Sergio was his sister Daniela. Four months later, Sergio was officially proclaimed dead. He was caught in an act of piracy at sea, and his ship was tragically sunk by his uncle's ship before Orsellino was able to recognize his relation. There is much speculation amongst the city's rumour-mongers over what actually happened next. What is undisputed is that Steffana, upon hearing of her lover's death, attempted to kill her husband and then herself. Whether she actually succeeded was not clear: the Contarini claimed for a while that Markus was indeed dead, and Steffana herself went missing for several months afterwards. That said, half a year later all the members of this love triangle reappeared in the city very much alive, if not entirely unscathed. Sergio had suffered disfiguring burns over the right half of his body, and lost much of the use of his sword arm. Markus Contarini, although entirely unharmed, gave an amicable and generous divorce to his wife. Steffana, in turn, came back with a hugely diminished taste for idle company. Sergio and Steffana were very quietly married shortly after that year's Carnivale and assumed reclusive lives in the city. A few years later, once the Parvini were firmly split from the Parvi, the couple had permanently moved away from Neu Ungren and settled on one of the islands of the archipelago to the northwest of Bardia, where they and their children live to this day. Sergio is an outspoken and passionate opponent of slave trade and slave ownership of any kind. Nonetheless, he prefers to stay out of the city politics: the fact the new doge of Neu Ungren is none other than Ludovic Contarini is enough to keep him out of Neu Ungren for much of the year. Similarly, he has never developed Ambel's love for Bardia: he sees it as a "city of self-indulgent lunatics, grown fat and bored out of their minds on the suffering of the unfortunate". This and other remarks like this ensure that he is a welcomed guest at the Portillo's famous dinner parties every time he is in the city. Portillo's friendship, it seems, comes with a few more perks than the decadent dinners. Every once in a while Sergio sails into the port with some particularly privileged "survivors" of "most unfortunate wrecks", collecting (not so) small cash rewards from their grudging relatives. The facts that the wrecks are exclusively ships carrying human cargo, and they almost all of them happen in the reefs of Sergio's favourite archipelago are, as it happens, never acted upon, or even mentioned. Almost exactly a year later the remaining survivors of those "wrecks" make it back on one of the Parvini rum ships, unharmed, yet tanned to a crisp and somewhat... haggard. Steffana Parvini (nee Venier-Dorna, formerly Contarini) (age 36) Friends since infancy -- Raymond, Sergio, the tomboyish Steffana and her cousin Ambel spent their childhood sneaking out of their bedrooms and leading exploratory expeditions into the most exotic corners of the city. It wasn't until Steffana blossomed into a young woman that her father put an end to this dangerous predilection by putting a padlock on her windows and hiring an army of tutors to keep her occupied. Steffana made her debut on the Neu Ungren social scene at 18, and lit it up like the dawning sun. On looks alone, Steffana would not have made it even into the top 10 of the young ladies of her generation; furthermore, the puritanical customs of her family ensured that her garments never made up for her deficit in looks. And yet, there was always a certain glow about Steffana -- of undying optimism and adventure and of live independent thought that, combined with her razor-sharp wit and an equally sharp tongue drew admirers to her side far more readily than the perfumed bosoms of her competition. Encouraged by her grand-uncle Isaac, Steffana indulged her literary hobby and went on to publish a few satirical plays, which were universally praised by connosieurs as nothing short of brilliant. Ironically, in the end it was her tragically accurate mockery that ended up causing the greatest suffering of her life. Besides the slack-jawed teenage Sergio Parvi (who was at the time still on the losing side of the Battle of Puberty), Steffana had amongst her admirers one Markus Contarini. Markus often stood out as an outsider in the private backstage parties Steffana frequented: he breached the inner circle only because he was the twin brother of Gabriela Contarini, who was in turn an avid patron of the arts and a natural friend and mentor to the young playwright. Boorish and socially awkward, Markus was a polar opposite of his dazzling twin, a fact that Gabriela never let him forget. At one such party, after a particularly successful showing of one of her plays Steffana, drunk partly on her success and partly on the wine, unwisely joined Gabriela in her habitual friendly mockery of Markus. Not many people took notice at his offense, and in fact, nobody understood that those indignities that Markus readily forgave his sister he could not tolerate from the secret object of his desire. Nobody predicted that this unresolved offense would bear fruit in the shape of an unhealthy and enduring obsession, that grew unchecked for years. After his floundering (and unsuccessful) attempt at propositioning her at Festa di Soldati, Markus became obsessed with possessing Steffana to the point where he became somewhat unhinged and threatened (although only his father) that he will rape and abduct her if he can not have her by other means. Fortunately for him, at the same time Venier-Dornas approached the Contarinies with a proposal for an extended joint venture using a combination of routers; combination that was very important for the Dornas. The ever-conciliating Ludovic introduced the Steffana marriage contract into the deal and settled the matter. After the wedding, it was expected that Markus would calm down somewhat, and indeed he did for a while -- but only until he realized that marriage vows never succeeded in making the young woman his possession. Although ostensibly a considerate and dutiful wife, Steffana was entirely too bright and too original to impersonate a trophy, and the unyielding coldness in her eyes was conspicuous enough even for Markus to notice. It is unclear exactly by which means Markus was able to subjugate his poor wife, but the evident fact was that little by little her spirit, once as fiery and potent as the midday sun was reduced to a flickering candle flame in the matter of a few years. Her writing had stopped, her admirers were slowly distracted elsewhere and her social engagements were reduced to quiet games of cards with family, accompanied with strict curfews. The coldness in her eyes never disappeared, but was now joined by ever-present fear. Drawn together as two wounded souls, Steffana and Sergio made more than the sum of their parts -- they filled each other with strength and resolve where there previously was none. As she obtained her surprising divorce from Markus, she married her lover within a few months, and embarked on a steady road to recovery -- although she never hurried to regain her social notoriety and remains a recluse to this day. After the birth of her son Raymond, Steffana's first writings in a long while made their way into the hands of the Neu Ungren literati, who admired the newfound depth that her earlier works lacked. She spends most of her time on the island with her five (soon to be six) children, but invariably makes it back to the city every Carnivale. Second generation Parvini Raymond (10) Orseolo ("Tonto") (8), Angelica ("Angie") (7) Amelia ("Milly") (4) Sergio (2) The Parvini children are rarely, if ever, seen in either of the cities. Steffana and Sergio prefer to shield their children from the life that brought their parents nothing but painful memories. Voracious readers who are nonetheless unencumbered with any strict formal education, the kids enjoy peaceful and untroubled childhoods on one of the islands in the archipelago -- chasing crabs in the sand, exploring the islands' lagoons and grottos, and fishing for oysters with their beloved father whenever he's around. Raymond has only recently begun to join his father on his naval expeditions, and made fast friends with his worldlier cousin Joakim. Daniela Parvini (age 30) Daniela's relationship with her parents was ever wrought with frustration and misunderstandings on behalf of all parties. Spirited and unyielding, much like her brother and uncles, Daniela was never contented with the life into which she was born, and was never patient enough to endure any activity which she wasn't passionate about. And the girl was always passionate about only one thing: the sea. Her obliging uncle Orsellino had the bad judgment of letting her come on a crossing with him when she was 10. Daniela returned to the city absolutely drunk with the experience, and for her entire adolescence every resource at her power was thrown at trying to get her parents to send her to the Navigatorial College with her older brothers. Butting heads with her father was ever a fruitless endeavour, and resulted only in the old man outsourcing the task of turning her into a proper lady to a reluctant brigade of unfortunate tutors. It was all but a useless exercise: Daniela showed a conspicuous lack of talent in dancing, etiquette, housekeeping, languages and the arts, and showed interest in literature and mathematics only to the extent that it allowed her to relive important naval battles and calculate optimal rigging of sails for different wind conditions. The tension between Daniela and her parents reached a breaking point when, fed up with her family's inactivity following Sergio's disappearance, she hijacked the private sloop belonging to the late Phillip Espier and sailed off to find her brother. She was caught by her uncle off the coast of one of the Parvi islands and brought back to the city in deep disgrace. Many claim that Orso's anger was disproportionate to his daughter's offense, but lack of precedent made such judgment difficult. Highborn daughters were punished for disobedience and adultery very routinely, but never before was a daughter of a Navigator accused of piracy. Further upset over the assumed death of Sergio, Orso was implacable, and publicly disowned his daughter, proclaiming that he had no children. Rumour has it that Orso tried to persuade the Cilithian nuns to place Daniela into a convent, a proposition the nuns refused, even after he offered a generous financial incentive for their troubles -- thus he instead arranged for her "exile" in Sergio's cottage, with a modest pension to cover the basics. Daniela never moved in. Instead, she was approached by an unlikely party with an equally unlikely opportunity: to help re-fit, and later pilot the Chervez-Tervelie cog to be captained by a man with no legs, specifically the aging former navigatorial celebrity Isaac Chervez-Tervelie. The offer was eagerly accepted, and the then-18-year old Daniela embarked on what was to become the defining experience of her life. Isaac turned to be much more than a teacher and a mentor. He was the first person who genuinely encouraged her passions, the first to take her seriously, the first to regard her as anything other than a spoiled little brat. The old man quickly became the only father she ever looked up to, the first friend she ever had, the only lover she ever desired. In fact, when Isaac accepted her son Joakim as his bastard, the skeptics never doubted Daniela's feelings for her old captain, but rather Isaac's own preferences for the ministrations of professional lovers. The renewed Chervez-Tervelie nautical enterprise became a rapid and unexpected success. Even though the idea of a cripple and a woman sailing on a router to Miskoltz started out as a popular punchline, the couple quickly became to be regarded as a kind of lucky charm by the Neu Ungren seamen: Isaac's cog ''Angie was greeted with great enthusiasm whenever she sailed back into port, and her crew was sure to be cheerfully wined and dined in every establishment on the docks. This, however, was more due to Isaac's aplomb, humour and personal charm than to Daniela's own personality. Confident and decisive commander at sea, Daniela turned back into a shy and socially awkward girl whenever she set foot on land. Never quite knowing how to carry herself, she kept close to Isaac and allowed to be obscured by the ample shadow the old man cast. Isaac, in turn, developed a keen fondness for the girl. In a way, Daniela replaced Isaac's son, whom he never managed to raise into a true heir to the Tervelie talent, and his dead grandson, whom he tragically lost in the first years of their voyages together. Despite the fact that her father offered to reconcile and to take her back, and even to arrange for her acceptance into the College, Daniela never agreed to reclaim any part of her former life. It was perhaps because of this that she fell completely apart when Isaac died almost twelve years to the day after their triumphant return from their first crossing together. After Isaac's funeral, Daniela found herself very much alone and without purpose. This was in part the old man's fault -- for as used as he was to cheating death at every turn, Isaac never really planned for the eventuality. Even though Isaac had always regarded the girl as his natural successor, by law all his Miskoltz-bound routers, as well as'' Angie'' passed to his estranged son Gaius -- a man who hasn't sailed by them in more than two decades, and who had no intention to start now. Isaac's will was drafted by his old lawyer, whose expertise was irreversibly affected by approaching senility and a love of rum -- and so the only property she ended up inheriting was the one she wanted the least: the Chervez-Tervelie brick house on Small Fez street. Worse yet, the new owner of Angie was a man who was more punctilious and obstinate than even her own father. In the wake of the funeral, Gaius went straight to old Orso, and proceeded to discuss with him the "continued employ" of his daughter as the ship's captain, and even made a point to pay the man a modest advance of her future salary -- all perfectly reasonable actions, as far as he was concerned. If Daniela had the presence of mind and the social graces to smile and curtsy in acceptance, she might have went on to cheerfully sail Angie until her son came of age. Unfortunately Daniela, still reeling from the death of a man who meant everything to her, and lacking every single quality that make a young woman agreeable to gentlemen like Gaius and Orso, went on to express her profound outrage at the way she has been habitually patronized and disrespected. She threw the money back into the incredulous face of the Kadi and stormed out. When no apology or explanation arrived, Gaius shrugged and returned to Bardia, putting the matter off until a later date. The aging Angie was confined to the dockyard for much-needed repairs, and Daniela was left hanging, with nowhere to go but the old brick house on Small Fez, and nothing to do except to dwell in her own misery and to acquaint herself with Isaac's ample wine cellars. Daniela's older brother Sergio, the only one of her family with whom she maintained a warm relationship, tried to offer her a job on his ship, but she refused, claiming that it was an offer motivated by charity and pity, of which she would have none. She did, however, let Sergio take her son Joakim, so that the boy could continue his maritime education on ''Fiamme dell'Alba. ''